Motherhood in Childhood

t Girls in Rajasthan,
India learning
to read.
© Mark Tuschman/
Educate Girls India
violence, regardless of the perpetrator (Center for
Reproductive Rights, 2009).
The ICPD Programme of Action recognizes
that one of the cornerstones of population and
development-related programmes is eliminating
all forms of violence against women, including
sexual abuse and violence against children and
adolescents (ICPD, Principles 4 and 11).
School, peers, partners
School
The longer girls stay in school, the more likely
they are to use contraception and prevent pregnancy
and the less likely they are to marry young
(Lloyd, 2006; UNICEF, 2006; Lloyd and Young,
2009). Girls who are not in school are more
likely to get pregnant than those remaining in
school, whether or not they are married.
The Secretariat of the 65th World Health
Assembly in 2012 called education “a major
protective factor for early pregnancy: the more
years of schooling the fewer early pregnancies,”
adding that “birth rates among women with low
education are higher than those with secondary
or tertiary education.”
While the correlation between educational
attainment and lower rates of adolescent pregnancy
is well documented, the direction of
causality and the sequencing are still the subject
of some debate, as noted in the previous chapter.
In many countries, early school-leaving is
attributed to adolescent pregnancy; however,
pregnancy and early marriage are more likely
to be consequences rather than causes of early
school leaving. Once girls have left school, pregnancy
and/or marriage are likely to follow in
short order (Lloyd and Young, 2009).
Educational attainment and sexual and reproductive
transitions are closely related in that a
pregnancy or an early marriage can derail a girl’s
schooling. As boys typically marry later than
girls and do not face the same risks and responsibilities
associated with pregnancy, their sexual
maturation and behaviour do not have the
potential to interfere with their school progress
in the same way (Lloyd and Young, 2009).
A 2012 study provides evidence that interventions
that encourage school attendance are
effective in reducing overall adolescent fertility,
making a case for expanding educational
opportunities for girls and creating incentives
for school continuation (McQueston et al.,
2012). Enabling or encouraging girls to attend
42 CHAPTER 3: PRESSURES FROM MANY DIRECTIONS